Condoleezza Rice: Keynote Address at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Rice's Keynote Address at the World Economic Forum exemplifies her belief that democracy and social justice could be effective only when supported by free-market economic policies. She asserts that the values and ideas that have guided the United States since its foundation—“political and economic freedom, open markets and free trade, human dignity and human rights, equal opportunity and the rule of law”—are universal. She sees American interests and ideals as being almost synonymous, mutually advancing each other and working together for a more developed, freer, and safer world.

On the matter of economic development, despite the “extraordinary opportunities of the global economy,” Rice admits that the present level of worldwide deprivation is still not acceptable. Yet she is careful not to charge the capitalist system for the unbalanced distribution of wealth. On the contrary, her solution would be to enhance free markets and free...

Condoleezza Rice with President George W. Bush (U.S. Department of Defense)